Rohit's sparkling ton guides India to four-wicket win over England; seal series 2-0
Cuttack, Feb 9 (PTI): Fuelled by a sparkling hundred by skipper Rohit Sharma, India defeated England by four wickets in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here on Sunday.
Rohit (119, 90b, 12x4, 7x6), who struck his 32nd hundred in ODIs, helped India mow down the target of 305. The hosts made 308 for six in 44.3 overs. This is India's seventh successive bilateral ODI series win against England.
During the knock, Rohit also reached 49 international centuries to move past Rahul Dravid’s count of 48.
Rohit was also involved in a deflating 136-run stand with his opening partner Shubman Gill (60, 52, 9x4, 1x6), the sixth such occasion of them engaging a 100-plus alliance.
Earlier, veteran batter Joe Root (69, 72b, 6x4) and opener Ben Duckett (65, 56b, 10x4) scored fifties to lead England made 304 all out.
For India, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (3/35) was the most successful bowler
Brief Scores:
England: 304 all out in 49.5 overs (Ben Duckett 65, Joe Root 69, Liam Livingstone 41; Ravindra Jadeja 3/35).
India: 308/6 in 44.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 119, Shubman Gill 60, Shreyas Iyer 44; Jamie Overton 2/27).
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Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
